Help Wanted: Tryout for boat washing must be paid

DEAR CARRIE: My son, who is home from college for the summer, applied for a job cleaning boats. The owner told him he could try out for the job. So he worked two nine-hour days, and then emailed her to say that the job wasn't for him. He also asked to be paid for the two days. She is refusing to pay him and insists that he owes her $450 for two T-shirts and for work she had to reschedule. She told him he needs to start payment or she will contact her lawyer. He mailed back the T-shirts. But does he owe her money or does she owe him? -- Pay in Limbo

DEAR PAY IN LIMBO: This is a great teachable moment for your son on the importance of knowing his workplace rights. The blustery boss doesn't have the law on her side.

First of all, she owes your son for the time he worked. Federal labor laws require nonexempt workers, or hourly workers, a category your son probably falls into, to be paid for all the hours they work. By not paying him, the employer is violating both state and federal minimum-wage laws, which require most workers to earn at least $7.25 an hour.

Secondly, state labor law says that except for taxes, she can't deduct money from his pay without his written permission. And I doubt your son would give her such permission.

My suggestion is to have your son send her a letter by registered return receipt, telling her that he expects his pay in a week from the day she receives the letter. Tell her what I mentioned above and add that minimum-wage violations and illegal deductions could result in a fine and audit.

If she is sensible, she will mail your son's pay right away. If not, he should file a complaint.

DEAR CARRIE: I am a commission salesman. To even out my payments, I am allowed to draw against a salary while awaiting my commissions. But I have to pay back that salary, or draw, when my commission is paid. Though that system generally works well, it comes up short for paid time off, that is holidays, vacation and personal days. As a commission employee I am told that my pay for those days is my commission, which I earn through sales. So I can be on so-called paid time off for a week and still have to repay my draw for that period. That's not my definition of paid time off. Am I being cheated? -- What Vacation?

DEAR WHAT VACATION: The policy may pass muster, according to the State Labor Department. "As long as the company policy is clearly stated, it is legal," the department said.

Labor laws don't require companies to offer benefits. So employers can set the terms, as long as they abide by rules such as notifying employees in advance.

DEAR CARRIE: My wife works as a teachers' aide in a school district that forced her to go to direct deposit and now refuses to give her a paper pay stub. Instead she has to go online to look at her pay stub. The problem is that the aides have not been assigned logins enabling them to check their pay stubs. So now she hasn't been able to verify her pay for two months. Is this legal? -- The Stub's the Rub

DEAR THE STUB: For starters, the consent for direct deposit is supposed to be voluntary for hourly workers. And here's what should happen when those employees don't agree to that form of payment:

"Employees who do not consent to a direct deposit arrangement must receive wages in cash or by check," the state Labor Department said.

And that consent isn't permanent. "The consent must be revocable at will," the department said.

The online payroll statements are legal if employees can view them at work and print copies. Otherwise, the company is violating state labor law.

For more on what constitutes hours worked and state direct-deposit regulations, go to newsday.com/business